Chapter 111: Für Elise

Noah’s POV

Like mother like son, Siren grabs me by my elbow and takes down the hall to his own room.

"I’m aware you don’t have any clothes of your own" he says and I look down at the clothes I’m wearing.

"I’ve been wearing Elias’s clothes" I say quietly and he sighs. "I would have sworn Eli was my most civilized son" mutters under his breath.

Elias is the most civilized. The most civilized at being mad at me for no reason.

"Don’t worry about him" Siren says as if he’s reading my mind, and I fake a nonchalant expression, "Elias is just angry at you for not telling him about the collar" Siren says and I wince.

"It wasn’t like I didn’t want to tell him, I genuinely didn’t think about it...there were so many things happening at once" I say and the older omega hums as he reaches for a scarf from his wardrobe.

"Elias goes mute when he’s mad and I think it’s best for everyone. It will also be good for both of you if he learns that you have autonomy over yourself" he says and wraps a scarf around his neck.

"I don’t want him to be mad at me" I say quietly and Siren gives me a small smile.

"Let’s go" he orders and I nod, following him like a baby duck out of the room.

I didn’t even take a chance to give the Siren’s room a proper look.

There could have been a skeleton or a giant bat in there and I didn’t notice. I know I have the self-awareness of a panda, but I still chose to blame it on Elias for filling my head with himself.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

Siren walks ahead of me with his back straight and chin up. Standing this close to him, I can see how tall he is. I’m average height, but Siren is slightly taller than I am.

I think he might be taller than his husband and it’s cute.

I give myself another mental forehead slap. Why am I thinking of two psychotic men as cute? Get yourself together, Noah.

"We’ll buy your own clothes, and we’ll get heat supplies for future heat. I can’t have you hurting like last time" he says as we walk down the hall and my omega responds with a soft whine.

Siren must have heard the whine because he looks back at me and flashes his omega eyes at me.

I don’t know if it’s a warning or a rejection, but I bow my head, breaking the eye contact instantly.

’It’s acceptance into his pack’ my omega supplies and I shake my head.

I already have a pack...I shouldn’t be jumping into Siren’s motherly arms.

We leave the Deus mansion and enter a simple black car. The car’s interior smells luxurious and feels like the same one that I used to get transported with back at home.

Siren is sitting with his back ruler-straight and I copy his posture.

This man has more elegance than all my years in training has ever given me room to express.

After fifteen minutes of silence and correct posturing, my body starts to shake, and I remember how weak my core strength is.

I think I should have paid more attention to working out too. The car’s space is small and intimate, so my unsteady breathing, and tiny tremors are more obvious than they should be.

"You can rest your back, Noah. There’s no need to sit so stiffly" Siren says softly and I check his posture. He’s still sitting so...regally. He looks like he was born in the wrong century and secondary gender.

"It’s okay, I like sitting like this" I lie and he laughs lightly.

"Don’t try to copy me, Noah. This is years of trauma in display" he says softly and I relax against the seat, wondering what he means by those words.

"Years of trauma?" I ask with a whisper and he nods.

"I was a trafficked omega" he says bluntly and my heart sinks to the floor.

What?

"I...I always thought things like that were just myths" I say and Siren makes a small noise that sounds like a snort.

"They’re not" he says.

"What happened?" I ask and he tilts his head to the side, eyes cold and blue as he gives me a practiced smile.

"Tell me about yourself, Noah. What do you like? What did you do as a growing child?" he asks and I blink twice.

I guess he doesn’t want to talk about omega trafficking while we’re on an omega shopping date.

’Silly’ I give myself a mental forehead slap. Of course he doesn’t want to talk about that. After all, he took me away from the family breakfast table to divert my attention from political trouble.

"I like pink" I whisper my answer, waiting for his judgement, but he nods solemnly like he’s storing up the information.

"That’s a pretty color" he says and I relax further into the chair, looking at him with awe in my eyes.

"I like music too" I say and the coldness around his eyes melts away slightly.

"Me too, I really appreciate and enjoy good music" he says.

"Wow, what sorts of music do you like? I enjoy a lot of alternative pop" I say with excitement and the man cringes.

"I enjoy classical music" he says and my head goes blank. I really thought we found something we share in common.

"Uh...Fur Elise is a good...musician?" I say and Siren sighs like he’s tired.

"Für Elise is the name of the song, Noah" he says and my cheeks start to burn with embarrassment. My list of embarrassing moments since I joined the Deus family must be long enough to fill a whole book...right?

"I see why Elias is enamoured by you, you’re too lovable" he says and the car rolls to a stop in front of the same place Elias brought me to shop at last time.

"Come on, we have lots of things to buy and a pink pair of headphones is on the list" Siren says and I follow him out of the car.

If I spend more time with him, I might even end up forgetting about my mother and her lack of affection towards me.